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Middle East
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The Middle East is a region that has been of prayerful concern for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for more than a century and a half. Over the years, educators, theological teachers, medical teams, rural health workers, agricultural experts, engineers and other specialists have been sent as missionaries by the Presbyterian Church to Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Israel, Iran, Iraq, other Gulf States, and Afghanistan. In the 1800s Presbyterians are credited with the establishment of distinguished educational and health institutions in the region. Among those are the American University of Beirut, Beirut College for Women (later called Beirut University College, and now Lebanese American University), the American University at Cairo, an impressive number of high-quality private primary and secondary schools and colleges. The American Mission Hospitals at Tanta and Assiut (Egypt), and Hamlin Hospital in the hills of Lebanon and places where many have experienced the love of God and the healing presence of Christ. Women's formal education was an early initiative of Presbyterians in the region, recognizing that the strength of any society depends primarily on equal opportunities in education.
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The Middle East is not all bombs, violence and fanaticism. Wonderful people live here, people with dreams and hopes about democracy and peace and decency. The Middle East was once the birthplace of the world's great ideas. It was the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of the three monotheistic religions. "Greek" science was born in Asia minor. After the decline of the ancient world, civilization and intellectual curiosity were revived and maintained by the Arab civilization, born once again in the Middle East.
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The Middle East has a number of peoples, languages, and religions. Turks and Arabs are the largest population groups, Kurds third largest, and Jews the last of the larger. Of smaller peoples are Berbers (unless one use the widest interpretation of "Middle East", which includes all of North Africa), Nubians and Armenians.
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The Middle East defines a geographical area, but does not have precise defined borders. The most common and highly arbitrary definition includes: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Many Western definitions of the "Middle East" — in both established reference books and common usage — define the region as "nations in Southwest Asia, from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Egypt." The inclusion of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey is sometimes contentious as they are not Arab states. Egypt, with its Sinai Peninsula in Asia, is often considered part of the Middle East, although most of the country lies geographically in North Africa. North African nations without Asian links, such as Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, are increasingly being called North African — as opposed to Middle Eastern (Pakistan to Egypt-Asia) — by international media outlets.
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The United States' latest peace initiative in the Middle East includes distributing US$43 billion in weaponry to selected "allies". This does not involve Lebanon, which remains an open sore of violence and political discord. Under France's new leadership, Paris is attempting its own cure by engaging all of the people who matter, including Syria and Hezbollah. - Sami Moubayed (Aug 1, '07)
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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Franklin Film Collection of the Middle East, the preeminent assemblage of Middle East film footage in the world, has been donated to the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The Collection has been jointly given by First Reserve, PFC Energy; Jo Franklin, acclaimed documentarian and producer/director of the donated footage; and Ms. Franklin's two children: Ashley Franklin Trout and Hugh H. Trout IV.
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